By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach The e-book Journal For Authoring Success This journal belongs to By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 1
Publishers Data & Legal Information Copyright @2005 Create A Splash Publishing All Rights Reserved Contact the Publisher at: url: www.createasplash.com Email: The author/publisher assumes no responsibility for any damage, injury and/or any loss sustained to persons or property as a matter of the use of this product s liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use of operation of any products, methods, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION 1 SECTION 2 SECTION 3 SECTION 4 How To Use This Journal Author s Information General Information 13 Steps To Authoring Your e-book 1. Idea 2. Motivation 3. Commitment 4. Conceptualization 5. Distribution 6. Branding 7. Mining For Golden Nuggets 8. Writing 9. Editing 10. Publishing 11. Marketing 12. Converting to a Physical Book 13. Celebrating/Party, Party, Party By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 3
HOW TO USE THIS JOURNAL This journal is designed to: Help you stay focused Think about what you are doing Keep track of the process so that you are organized and complete the e-book easily and effortlessly Remind you of how much you have accomplished Encourage you to keep going It s so easy to lose track of your thought process as well as all those little scraps of paper with the names, phone numbers and email addresses for contacts, as well as resources, and dimensions, fonts, pricing and other details that are involved in writing an e- book. By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 4
This journal is designed to help you keep track of it all as well as to organize your thoughts and stay on course. By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 5
7 Tips For Getting The Most Out of This Journal 1. Use all or parts of this journal that work for you in the process of writing your e-book. 2. Keep it updated so yo don t lose track of what you are doing. 3. Make extra copies of pages as necessary. 4. Keep the journal handy at all times for those inspired moments when everything flows. Be sure to transfer ideas from temporary scratch papers to the permanent record 5. Add your own pages if it better suits your objectives and materials. 6. Jotting down notes now may save you hours of work later on so consider it time well spent. Don t lose good ideas by failing to record them! Put them in your journal as soon as you can to keep them safe. 7. Try to take a few minutes at the beginning of each writing session to review your journal. This will help you stay on course and it s a good habit to get into. By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 6
AUTHOR S INFORMATION For publicity purposes have this information handy: NAME; TITLE; JOB DESCRIPTION: BUSINESS: Company Name Address: Telephone: Cell Phone: Fax: E-mail: Website URL: By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 7
GENERAL INFORMATION E-book general information. Keep this section up-to-date to help you focus on where you are in the process: Title of the e-book: General Topic : Sub-topics: Number of Pages: Target Market (be specific): Websites for Selling the e-book: By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 8
Mentors : Start Date: Anticipated Date of Completion for Celebration! Resources: I work best between the hours of and. I will schedule blocks of time to work during these hours on a weekly bsis to insure that I stay focused and complete my e-book on schedule. The scheduled times will be: I will start an email file with the contacts that I will be using. When?. By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 9
13 Steps to e-book Authoring 1. Idea 2. Motivation 3. Committing 4. Conceptualizing 5. Distributing 6. Branding 7. Mining for Golden Nuggets 8. Writing 9. Editing 10. Publishing 11. Marketing 12. Converting to a Physical Book 13. Celebrating/Party, Party, Party By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 10
STEP 1: IDEA Questions: What am I good at? What am I passionate about? _ What do colleagues and co-workers think I m good at? What do I need to learn to maximize the quality of my e-book? _ How did the original idea for this e-book come about? By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 11
My Questions: Thoughts and ideas worth thinking about: By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 12
STEP 2: MOTIVATION Questions: What is my motivation for writing this book? _ Is it strong enough? yes no _ Do I need to dig deeper? yes no What potential obstacles do I need to be aware of? (perfectionism, procrastination, time management issues etc.) _ What can I do to counteract these potential obstacles? I believe I will be a successful e-book author because.. By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 13
Who will support me in writing my e-book? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. What feedback have I ve received about writing my e-book? My Questions: Thoughts and ideas worth thinking about: By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 14
Questions: STEP 3: COMMITMENT What am I willing to give up for a while in order to make my e-book dream a reality? E.g. time, money etc. How much time am I willing to commit each week to this project? How much money do I need to complete this book? _ Am I willing to commit the financial resources I need to this book? yes no _ Who must I enlist to help me keep my commitment to completing this book? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. What affirmations can I use to empower myself? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 15
Where can I leave post-it notes in the house to remind me of my commitment to writing my e-book? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. _ My Questions: _ Thoughts and ideas to think about: By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 16
STEP 4: CONCEPTUALIZATION Questions: What e-books have I downloaded from the web related to writing an e-book that I can use to help me get a clearer picture of what I want my e-book to look like and be about? e-book Title Author URL (website) What other layouts have I found that I especially like? dislike? for my e-book and why? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. What titles might work for e-book? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 17
What s the best title for my e-book? (If you re not sure yet wait until you get to step 7, mining for golden nuggets) What format am I going to use in my e-book? (Q&A, Case Studies, Step-by-step, with Sections? Chapters?) What is the scope of my e-book? What topic will I start with first? What will I address? What other topics will I cover? What will my table of contents include? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 18
What are my chapter titles? (If you re not sure come back to this in Step 7: Mining for Golden Nuggets) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. _ Is it a series of books? yes no _ If so, what will these e-books be about? By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 19
Have I thought of titles for these e-books? If so, record them here. 1. 2. 3. _ What will my e-book look like inside and out? _ What technology, if any will my e-book include? By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 20
Who do I need to assist me to make my e-book as interactive and easy to use as possible? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. _ What weblinks do I intend to include in the e-book? NAME URL 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 21
My Questions: _ Thoughts and ideas to think about: By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 22
STEP 5: DISTRIBUTION Questions: Is this a consumer product or a business to business product or both? B C B&C How does that affect how you will market it? Do you need to build your list? yes no Do you have enough potential customers to be able to sell your book? yes no Are you going to sell your book or give it away? sell give away _ How are other books in your niche market distributed? _ Is it a download, an audio tape, 3-ring binder, a physical book? _ Where should you sell it? By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 23
My Questions: _ Thoughts and ideas to think about: By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 24
STEP 6 : BRANDING Questions: Do I have a website? yes no What does it look like? What does it say about me? My product? What else can I do to brand myself? My Questions: Thoughts and ideas to think about: By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 25
STEP 7: MINING FOR GOLDEN NUGGETS Questions: What are my core ideas? How much information am I going to deal with in each section? _ In what order will I arrange my golden nuggets? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 26
Since my e-book will solve a problem for my customers and clients, what teaching methods will I use to present this material to them? (Create a series of reports, use this e-book as the basis of an e-course or tele-seminar etc?) _ What e-books have catchy subheadings that I like? Name/Description URL 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. _ Can I give my table of contents sections more interesting headings as I write each section? yes no If so what are they? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 27
10. 11. 12. My Questions: Thoughts and ideas to think about: By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 28
STEP 8: WRITING Questions: What anecdotes, sayings, and analogies would I like to use in my e-book? For each chapter of my e-book I will have the following sections. (Make a copy of this page for each chapter) 1. Chapter title: 2. Chapter subtitle: 3. Brief quote: 4. Introduction: Paragraph 1 Paragraph 2 Paragraph 3 Paragraph 4 Paragraph 5 Paragraph 6 Paragraph 7 Paragraph 8 5. 10 points that are lessons or tools to make the point stated in the title, quote and introduction are: Point 1 Point 2 By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 29
Point 3 Point 4 Point 5 Point 6 Point 7 Point 8 Point 9 Point 10 6. Will there be a glossary? If so what will it be? 7. Will there be a self-evaluation question. If so what will it be? 8. Conclusion Paragraph 1 Paragraph 2 Paragraph 3 Paragraph 4 Paragraph 5 Paragraph 6 Paragraph 7 Paragraph 8 By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 30
9. Will there be a worksheet after the chapter? 10. If so what will it include? 11. How will I create my e-book? (Check all that apply) Write on a computer? Writer with pen and paper? Do teleseminars and have them transcribed? Call a friend and talk to them? Other? If you chose other, explain: My Questions: Thoughts and ideas to think about: By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 31
STEP 9: EDITING Questions: Who am I going to ask to read my book and give me feedback? 1, 2. 3. 4. 5. Who do I know that has the skill to edit my book? 1. 2. 3. Who will I ask to help me field test the material in my e-book? 1. 2. 3. Where can I find professional editors? How much do they charge? Who am I comfortable working with? By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 32
Who is best in the following areas? -Spelling and Grammar -Visual Appeal and variety of sentences -Clarity of instruction organization of the material How will I thank my editors? What instructions will I give to my editors? -(Standardize your editors instructions to make it easier for you to make the necessary corrections-) -Specify things such as do the editing on the computer or hard copy -Use red ink -Do or don t make corrections etc. My Questions: _ Thoughts and ideas to think about: By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 33
STEP 10: PUBLISHING Questions: What will I call my publishing company? Who will compile my e-book? In what format will my e-book be available? Portable Document Format (adobe).pdf Hypertext Markup Language (HTML).exe What technical information do I need to keep track of: Page size: Font sizes and styles: Heading styles: Margin settings: Header and footer formatting details: Sources for pictures and audio clips: Symbols: Spacing: Graphics: Where are these graphics stored? How to create them: Special effects (flashing titles, special color combinations etc.) By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 34
What steps will I take to insure that authoring this book is as financially beneficial as possible? Who will I employ as my accountant to maximize tax benefits of being a self- employed author? My Questions: Thoughts and ideas to think about: By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 35
STEP 11: MARKETING Questions: After checking the price of similar e-books on the Internet and talking to potential customers to find out what they would be willing to pay, I ve decided a reasonable selling price of my e-book is $ _ What internet marketing techniques will I use to sell my e-book? _ What off-line marketing techniques will I use to sell your e-book? _ How will I create a standard business card and an email card? By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 36
What endorsements do I intend to use in my e-book as part of my promotion? Person File Location 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. How will I create a media kit? _ Who do I know that can help me improve my sales and exposure of my e-book? _ What conferences will I attend? (People who attend live conference have more success stories than people who don t.) By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 37
How will I follow up with the people I meet? I intend to update my material every months in order to keep my e-book relevant so that I can continue to sell it and receive passive income. My Questions: Thoughts and ideas to think about By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 38
Questions: STEP 12: CONVERTING TO A PHYSICAL BOOK Do I need to convert my e-book to a physical book? yes no Will the extra cost be offset by increased sales? yes no Who might be interested in a physical book over an e-book? How will an e-book increase my reputation as an expert? Does a physical book work as well as an e-book? yes no Can I drive people to my site from the physical book? yes no How? _ How will I pay for printing the book? _ Will I print 250? 500? Or publish on demand? And, why? By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 39
What will my physical book look like? How will I add an index if I don t already have one? yes no Can I make some advanced sales to offset the price of printing? yes no To Whom? What other methods can I use to raise money to pay for the printing of my physical book? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 40
My Questions: _ Thoughts and ideas to think about: By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 41
STEP 13: CELEBRATE/ PARTY, PARTY PARTY Celebration & Gratitude I will surround myself with family and friends who share my joy in this HUGE accomplishment. My significant other and I will celebrate this accomplishment by : I will show my appreciation to all those who helped me make my dream come true by? Giving signed copies to all of them at an open house celebration Acknowledge them in my book Take an ad in my local paper. Write a thank you in my blog and on my website Other My NEXT e-book will be about: By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 42
The titles I m considering are I will start my new e-book on month, day, year. I am a Published Author! By Ellen Violette The e-book Coach 43